The TaylorMade MG5 wedge is here, and it has big shoes to fill. Can it tick all the boxes for the golfer looking for the perfect wedge? Here’s our expert’s full review.
The TaylorMade Milled Grind family has slowly but surely crept up on the best wedges in the market over the last few years, with its performance in the TG tests speaking for themselves. With the MG4 being named the best wedge in 2025 – prior to the MG5 being released, of course – and being a staple in my ever-changing bag, I was very excited to see the TaylorMade MG5 seeded on tour in recent months.
TaylorMade have been known as a premier wedge manufacturer for several iterations now, but I’ve always felt like they had something missing to become perfect. It certainly wasn’t a performance or consistency problem, as these metrics received full marks with the TaylorMade MG4. What I concluded before this release was that the MG5 needed to feel less robotic. With a complete overhaul in craftsmanship, they may have done just that.
Forged to perfection?
Pros & Cons Ratings Specs Features
Pros Stunning, clean aeshetics that match with the TaylorMade P7 family. Variety of grinds. Consistency with moisture on face Two finishes available. Cons Forged construction may fall flat for some.
Looks/Feel
Technology
Performance
Overall
Availability 46-60 (RH/LH) Grinds LB, SC, SB, SX, HB, TW Stock Shaft TT Dynamic Gold Tour Issue 115g, Recoil DART 80g Stock Grip Golf Pride Z-Grip Plus 2 Forged Construction New Groove Geometry 6 Grinds Available New Spin Tread Pattern
Looks/Feel: 4.5/5
The TaylorMade MG5 represents a significant evolution in the TaylorMade Milled Grind family, particularly in terms of looks and feel. Their craftsmanship has altered, with the MG5 now being forged. A statement that will attract a lot of purists in the golf equipment scene, myself included. Forging in a TaylorMade Milled Grind wedge, for the first time, should lead to a softer, smoother feel at impact – almost as if it is an extension of your hands.
Adding to the feel, the overall aesthetics of the TaylorMade MG5 resemble those of the new TaylorMade P790s, one of our best irons of 2025. The satin scratching across the back of the club alongside the centred alignment of the logo is a lovely touch, with the shaping suiting the eye of the better player. The curvature is refined on the leading edge, with less offset and a rounded toe. All concepts that represent the perfect wedge in my eyes, and from looks alone, the clean yet modern shelf appeal of this wedge looks even better in person than in the pictures.
Does the feel match the expectations for a forged wedge? Sorry to disappoint, but for the golfer who is assuming the TaylorMade MG5 will be drastically softer than most wedges on the market, you will be let down.
Does it feel soft at all? Not really. The frequency is still quite high and similar to the TaylorMade MG4 when tested with a variety of premium balls, and the overall feel still had the DNA of TaylorMade’s Milled Grind family – although it did remind me of Callaway’s new Opus SP offering. If push came to shove, I would side with Callaway on the feel department – but it’s awfully close.
This may feel like a negative, and that I’m lamenting TaylorMade’s forging process. I’m not. There just wasn’t a massive difference in feel, and I know some consumers will be thinking this will blow them away due to the different craftsmanship. In the Western World, Titleist Vokey’s SM10’s are cast, alongside a host of other brands. The difference between forged and cast, for wedges at least, doesn’t appear to be that pivotal.
I still love the feel of the TaylorMade MG5 and there’s a reason the MG4s are in the bag. However, there are softer wedges out there in 2025, which is why I couldn’t give this full marks.
Technology: 5/5
Moving away from the constructional changes, the face sees some substantial alterations to improve the consistency of an already high-performing wedge. The TaylorMade MG5 has a new groove geometry via saw milling, which pushes the wedge even closer to the legal limit. The grooves themselves have a sharper radius and steeper draft, leading to more spin around the greens and on pitch shots.
More spin is, of course, welcome, but this needs to be consistent across all conditions. TaylorMade have acknowledged that their Milled Grind family needed improvements in wet weather – the difference in spin rates from wet to dry being approximately 4000 RPM.
With a brand new spin tread pattern, the spin variation drops by 1500 RPM when moisture is added, leading to more consistency around the greens in whatever condition you decide to play.
This premium technological advancement is matched with the options that TaylorMade now offer with their grinds. There are 6 grinds now available at retail (LB, SC, SB, SX, HB, TW), with more options being added in the mid bounce section whilst providing the utmost versatility for any type of golfer. Within the bounce and grind options, there might be the perfect wedge for the amateur and professional golfer.
Performance: 5/5
I was fortunate enough to test the TaylorMade MG5 wedges at Lamberhurst Golf Club in Kent, utilizing their course and short game area.
As it was a hot summer’s day throughout my testing, I had to artificially test the moisture consistency, noting the difference in spin across the baked greens in the Garden of England.
With three different lofts to test – 50º, 56º and 60º – and a variety of grinds, I began around the green with the 60 to evaluate the versatility and performance. Using predominantly TaylorMade TP5x Stripe golf balls, I noticed similar feedback to the MG4 and MG3 wedges.
At times, it felt like you were shredding the cover of the golf ball to pieces with the tread pattern. This is a great feeling, as it reflects the spin you’re generating on these short chips. Even with the lob wedge, I had no problem hitting the low 10-yard chip that stops on a dime. When moving onto the 56 with the TW grind, I found similar results from 10-20 yards.
When moving to 50-80 yards, I did note that the launch was slightly higher than the Callaway Opus SP that I tested earlier in the month. I would have preferred the launch to be flighted a bit more by stock, but this could be a fitting or shaft issue, so I’m not going to focus on that too much.
My main takeaway from the testing from 10-120 yards was consistency. Some may have wanted the takeaway to be the soft feel these wedges generate, but in all honesty, I was more impressed by the performance from a variety of different stations. With 10 balls per area, I visually saw very similar output in terms of launch and spin, which resulted in a very tight dispersion area when collecting the balls.
Verdict: 4.5/5
Is this the perfect wedge?
For some, yes. For me, it’s very close.
Full marks for the TaylorMade MG5 were possible, but the slightly flat feeling from the new forged construction leads me to give this 4.5… for now.
That being said, I’m very impressed with the improvements made from the TaylorMade MG4, and I’ll now need to do further testing to see if the Callaway Opus SP or TaylorMade MG5 goes in my bag. If you’re looking for versatility, premium performance and one of the best looking wedges in 2025, the Milled Grind family will help you tick all the boxes.
